Traditionally,
U.S. auto buyer (and manufacturers) have shied away from diesel engines in
passenger cars. There are a few diesel cars on the market in the U.S. already,
mostly from VW (BMW and Mercedes offer diesels in limited models). Diesel cars
are common in Europe and are a viable alternative to gasoline engines and
hybrids in many instances.

A new vehicle is coming to the U.S. with diesel power that will have fuel
economy good enough to make hybrids jealous according to Detroit News. The vehicle is the Chevrolet Cruze diesel and it get well over 40 mpg. The move is seen as a way for Chevy to meet the stiffer EPA standards
that are looming for its entire fleet.

The diesel-powered Cruze is expected to hit dealer lots in 2013 and it will be
built on the same line as its gasoline-powered brethren. Pricing for the diesel
Cruze isn't known at this time. Right now, the gas-powered Cruze has a price
starting at $16,525.

Interestingly,
the Cruze is the bestselling vehicle in America right now with 25,000 units
sold in June. That sales number was enough to put it ahead of the Toyota
Camry and Honda Accord. Analyst Dave Sullivan with AutoPacific Inc said,
"I couldn't think of a better way for GM to capitalize on the momentum
that Cruze has created for GM by adding a diesel."

The diesel engine Cruze would most assuredly cost more than the gasoline
version due to the higher cost of production. New diesel engines have little in
common with the loud and smoky diesels that many people are familiar with from
years ago. Likewise, modern diesel cars can be just as refined as their
gasoline counterparts.

Chevrolet confirmed today it will add a diesel variant to the Cruze lineup in North America in calendar year 2013. Diesel versions of the Cruze are currently being sold in Europe. Additional details on the Cruze diesel for North American markets will be released at a later date.

The diesel will bolster the already fuel-efficient Cruze lineup. Cruze Eco with a standard six-speed manual transmission, is the most fuel-efficient gas-powered/non-hybrid vehicle in America, with an EPA-rated 42 mpg on the highway.

Cruze recorded a total of 24,896 sales in the United States in June, the fifth consecutive month sales have exceeded 20,000. The success of the Cruze has increased Chevrolet’s total share of the compact-car segment from 9.5 percent a year ago to 11.9 percent for the first five months of 2011, even as the segment size grew 19 percent.

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GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS EVERYBODY!!!! That '56mpg' or '62mpg' the whitehouse/epa are proposing are CAFE fuel economy. Which means that the 2010 Prius, rated at 50mpg average on the monroney sticker gets about 70mpg on the CAFE cycle. So a vehicle that gets 56mpg on the CAFE cycle is more around 38mpg average. Even better, that's a FLEET average. It is so annoying having to repeat this very important piece of information as it's the difference between a very reasonable request and a very UNreasonable request (by the govt.). Vehicles over the fleet averaging 40mpg is very reasonable and doable especially by 2025.